COLUMBIA HISTORY
From the plantation economy of President James K. Polk’s day to the 1946 uprising of Black Columbians against an attempted lynching, Maury County plays a critical—yet still underrecognized—role in the history of race and civil rights in the United States. CPJI is committed to telling the truth about these moments in Maury County’s path—whatever that brings. Looking to the past, CPJI believes it’s possible to both learn from missteps and draw strength and hope for today’s struggles against injustice.
1817
June 10, 1817
Rev. Edmund Kelly is born in Columbia.
Rev. Kelly was a preacher, writer and education advocate for Black communities.
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Rev. Kelly was a preacher, writer and education advocate for Black communities. He was born into slavery, but would go on to meet with two presidents and become on of the first African Americans ordained in Tennessee. He also helped to found the Mt. Lebanon Missionary Baptist Church in 1843. In October 2020, the African American Heritage Society of Maury County honored the life of Rev. Kelly by getting a historical marker placed at Mt. Lebanon Missionary Baptist Chirch.
1845
March 4, 1845
President James K. Polk is inaugurated as the 11th U.S. President.
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1862
1868
1877
1862
African American Maury County teen Gilbert Dowell is lynched.
1868
African American Maury County residents Harry Fitzpatrick, Tom Kelley, Tom Jourdan and Alf Rainey are lynched.
1877
African American Maury County resident Frank McGee is lynched.
1881
1885
1890
1891
1904
1919
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1927
1933
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1946
1946
1950
1964
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1969
1881
The first public school for African Americans is established in Maury County.
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Initially called the School for Colored People, College Hill School educated high school students until 1949. It then became an elementary school and 2006 the school was renamed Horace O. Porter School at College Hill.
April 14, 1885
Actor and playwright Flournoy Eakin Miller is born in Columbia.
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Flournoy Eakin Miller, also known by his stage name F. E. Miller, was an American entertainer, actor, lyricist, producer and playwright. He co-founded the comic duo, Miller and Lyles, alongside Aubrey Lyles. Miller is celebrated as a pioneering force who made significant contributions to the evolution of African American comedy and entertainment. He is also credited as a key figure in the advancement of African American musical theater on Broadway.
1890
African American Maury County resident George Warner is lynched.
1891
African American Maury County residents Green Wells and Grub Mayberry are lynched.
1891
African American Maury County resident Ruth Jones is lynched.
1919
African American Maury County resident Frank Hughes is lynched.
1922
Clarke Training School opens in Mount Pleasant.
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Serving nearly 350 elementary and high school students, predominantly of African American descent, Clarke Training School was a vital educational institution in the community. Founded with the help of prominent African Americans Joseph Worley, Andrew Polk, and Finn Wray, who successfully secured funds for the creation of the "Mt. Pleasant Colored School."
In 1962, the school underwent a name change to become Clarke Elementary and High School, and it continued to educate students until its final graduating class in 1969. Ultimately, the school's closure was a consequence of the larger shift towards racial desegregation.
1923
Maury County Colored Hospital is opened.
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Established in 1923 by Dr. C.E. Jones, Rev. W.H. Lampley, and others, this hospital served the African American citizens of Maury and surrounding counties. Despite facing financial and staffing challenges during World War II, it operated until the opening of Maury Regional Hospital in 1954. A historic marker now marks its former location. In 2020, the African American Historical Society of Maury County helped to place a historical marker at the hospital’s location.
1924
African American Maury County resident Robert Wilson is lynched.
1927
African American Maury County teen Henry Choate is lynched.
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Henry Choate, 18, was accused of assaulting a 16-year-old white girl named Sarah Harlan. Despite Harlan's inability to identify him as the assailant, Choate was arrested and imprisoned in Columbia. A mob of hundreds forcibly freed him from jail, dragging him behind a car through the city before hanging him in front of the Maury County Courthouse, where the jail was housed. Choate’s body hung from the west portico of the courthouse for two days as a warning. A grand jury declined to file any charges against those who murdered Choate.
1933
African American Maury County teen Cordie Cheek is lynched.
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African American teenager Cordie Cheek was falsely accused and arrested for sexually assaulting a white girl (she later recanted her story). Cordie was held in the jail but released on bail to relatives in Nashville. He was later kidnapped by a white mob outside the entrance to Fisk University and brought back to Maury County where he was tortured, shot and hung from a tree in the Glendale community with over 100 people present.
Judge Hayes Denton’s car was used to transport Cordie from Nashville back to the site of his lynching. The same Hayes Denton would be county magistrate in 1946 and oversee the arrest of another African American teenager named James Stephenson. No doubt the lynching of Henry Choate and Cordie Cheek would have been well-known in the African American community in 1946 when Judge Denton encouraged local black leaders to leave Stephenson in jail and promised protection. One of those leaders, Sol Blair, famously refused the offer and declared “there will be no more social lynching in Maury County!” He and other black leaders posted bail and ferreted Stephenson out of town. These events were the what built up to the uprising of 1946.
The same Hayes Denton would be county magistrate in 1946 and oversee the arrest of another African American teenager named James Stephenson. No doubt the lynching of Henry Choate and Cordie Cheek would have been well-known in the African American community in 1946 when Judge Denton encouraged local black leaders to leave Stephenson in jail and promised protection. One of those leaders, Sol Blair, famously refused the offer and declared “there will be no more social lynching in Maury County!” He and other black leaders posted bail and ferreted Stephenson out of town. That’s when the real trouble began.
1942
Playwright Sandra Seaton is born in Columbia.
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Sandra Seaton has made an indelible mark in the world of literature and theater. Her works, including the opera libretto "From the Diary of Sally Hemings," have graced stages across the country. In "The Bridge Party," Seaton seamlessly blends fiction with the historical fabric of Columbia, exploring events like the Cordie Cheek story and the Columbia race riots. Her plays are a testament to her ability to bring history to life through storytelling.
February 24, 1946
James and Gladys Stephenson are arrested in Columbia, a moment that would eventually lead to the 1946 Columbia Race Riot.
December 6, 1946
In response to the Columbia Race Riot and and other violence against African Americans, President Harry S. Truman issues Executive Order 9808, forming the President’s Committee on Civil Rights.
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The committee’s findings led to a series of orders that in effect began the Civil Rights Movement, including desegregation of the federal workforce, desegregation of the U.S. armed forces, establishment of a permanent civil rights division, abolishment of poll taxes, and protections against lynching. These laws helped lay the groundwork for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act in 1965.
1950
Carver-Smith High School opens in Columbia, thanks to a fundraising effort by the town’s Black community.
August 21, 1964
Rose Ogilvie-McClain becomes the first African American student to attend Maury County school.
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After the dedication, as they left Columbia, their route took them along the same road where Thurgood Marshall narrowly escaped a lynching attempt after defending individuals arrested during the 1946 uprising.
1969
Carver-Smith High School is closed.
Learn about how CPJI is helping to celebrate the legacy of Carver-Smith >>